Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Threads

The Place After This One can be considered Underoath's very own Architect's The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit, taking on more of an alt-/industrial metal sound. This is where the band adds in more electronic synth experimentation than before, alongside mechanical riffing and vocal distortion. So I'd like to submit Underoath's "The Place After This One" to the Hall to be added to The Sphere while staying in The Gateway.

I haven't been able to conjure up a proper review, but here are my thoughts.

This is an album of bouncy, melodic, mainstream-baiting metal tunes from Japan and as such really isn't intended for a doom-obsessed lover of the darkness that envelops extreme metal such as myself. No surprising then that this didn't do a great deal for me and with which I found it quite hard to connect. Sounds to my jaded ears like a smoothie blended from part Evanescence, part Linkin Park and part Trivium with some electronic touches thrown in especially to irritate me. The singer sounds like he would actually have quite a nice voice given the right material, reminding me of Coheed and Cambria's Eduardo Sanchez, but his metalcore shouting isn't something I can appreciate - as perfectly illustrated by the track "Speak" which just had me thinking "shut up".

I find it quite hard to envision this gaining any popularity among older metal fans like myself who were brought up on a diet of seventies hard rock and eighties heavy metal. But I can easily hear that the younger metalheads who grew up more accustomed to a wider range of external influences such as rap, electronica and post-hardcore being incorporated into their metal may get off on this, particularly if they are drawn to a more melodic version of metal. That said, I have no idea if any true metalhead would ever get much out of the excretious ballad "1st January" which sounds like Robbie Williams at his soppiest. In fact, scrub that because Williams' "Angels" pisses all over this track.

Sorry to anyone who really digs on this, but this is the most positive summary of my feelings towards this that I could manage to summon and I am guessing that more than a single listen would have me getting increasingly abrasive in my assessment. Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say, "no, not for me" and this is one of those cases I'm afraid. I tried, I really did... [closes Spotify halfway through "Answer/Sickness"].

1/5

Although Alien Weaponry is more groove-oriented than ever with their new album, Te Ra, they still have their alternative metal side. There's frequent accessibility in the riffs and melodies in many of the songs. So I'd like to submit Alien Weaponry's "Te Rā" to The Hall to be added to The Gateway while staying in The Pit.

A playlist I've made based on the above list: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2xLSlZirGiyc1Diexck5p1

And now for another one of melodic metalcore's leading forces (including their live album to stand by my 10-album motive):

Killswitch Engage

1. Killswitch Engage (2000)

2. Alive or Just Breathing

3. Live at the Palladium

4. Atonement

5. Disarm the Descent

6. This Consequence

7. As Daylight Dies

8. The End of Heartache

9. Incarnate

10. Killswitch Engage (2009)

I've done my review, here's its summary:

It's not often a live album gets a perfect score, at least one from me. But the two-CD offering is so awesome, I don't need to get the Blu-ray version. It's basically two of the best Killswitch Engage albums and an encore in a high-quality livestream concert. The technical production here impresses me more than most other live albums. Apparently, there's something going on in the intermission, but I won't spoil the fun of just the CD edition by checking it out. Just listening to the songs make this a pure live experience in the comfort of my own home. With this awesome two-album setlist, it might just blow away their weakest but still amazing releases like The End of Heartache and KSE V. It once again proves that while Howard Jones is still one of the greatest vocalists around, Jesse Leach has the throne with his name engraved in stone!

5/5

Recommended tracks: "The Signal Fire", "The Crownless King", "As Sure as the Sun Will Rise", "Take Control", "I Can’t Be the Only One", "Temple from the Within", "Irreversal", "Rusted Embrace", "In the Unblind", "Just Barely Breathing"

For fans of: Light the Torch, Shadows Fall, Trivium

Skyfire has the typical melodeath aspects of heavy riffing and growled/screamed vocals, but there's more than that in their earlier albums. Alongside the orchestral keyboards, there's enough fast melodic guitarwork, anthemic hooks, and fantasy-ish lyrics to justify also adding the album to power metal. So I'd like to submit Skyfire's "Timeless Departure" and "Mind Revolution" to the Hall to be added to The Guardians and power metal, while maintaining their position in The Horde and melodic death metal. I'd also like to encourage Horde members to vote in the symphonic death metal subgenre for Mind Revolution.

Although I consider the band's sound in their 2010 album Empire a mix of melodic metalcore and melodeath, I don't think I can say the same for their next two albums Uprising and Era. These albums shows a more melodic metalcore sound similar to Trivium. The melodic riffing is more around the hardcore side instead of the extreme yet melodic side of melodeath. So I'd like to submit Bleed from Within's "Uprising" and "Era" to the Hall to be removed from The Horde and the melodic death metal subgenre, while maintaining its position in The Revolution.

Bleed from Within have always been a band sounding worthy of The Revolution, with these two releases being some of their first explorations into melodic metalcore. The instrumentation, screamed vocals, and occasional breakdowns all sound metalcore to me. So I'd like to submit Bleed from Within's "Empire" and "Death Walk" to the Hall to be added to The Revolution and melodic metalcore, while maintaining the former's position in The Horde and melodic death metal and the latter's position in The Pit and groove metal.

The blend of slam death metal and deathcore Mental Cruelty had in their debut album Purgatorium can also be heard in the EP Pereat Mundus. The more hardcore-sounding riffing, screams, and breakdowns steer the band's sound right on the line between the two subgenres. So I'd like to submit Mental Cruelty's "Pereat Mundus" to the Hall to be added to The Revolution and deathcore while maintaining its position in The Horde.

This isn't exactly likely to sit very high on my list of metal favourites, but I would be lying if I said I hated it. On paper this really isn't up my street at all, but there was something I found infectious and likeable in the exuberance with which these Finns delivered their catchy, industrialised alternative metal ditties. In truth, the appeal would probably fade very quickly and even on a single listen the album was a bit too long for my preference. I could definitely do without the nu-metally rap parts and would gladly wave goodbye to those, but for an album of energetic poppy metal anthems this was reasonably tolerable. Damning with faint praise maybe, but considering where my metal tastes lie, that's not bad I would suggest.

2.5/5

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Klank - "Time" from Still Suffering (1995)

4.5/5. A solid start to treat you with what to expect in the playlist and its original album.

Illidiance - "Deformity" from Deformity (2013)

5/5. Another awesome start, exemplifying the band's true sound.

Circle of Dust - "Onenemy (Fury Weekend Remix)" from Circle of Dust (Remixed) (2022)

5/5. Industrial metal song remixes sound incredible when trance synths are added to the mix. Now we need Dance with the Dead or Die Krupps remixing Argyle Park. And we also need more Circle of Dust, though I still enjoy Klayton's main project Celldweller.

Celldweller - "I Believe You" from Celldweller (2003)

4.5/5. Case in point... A few of these amazing songs in Celldweller's debut appear in Dead Rising 2. There is some slight metalcore in here while staying industrial metal.

Cypecore - "Spirals" from Version 4.5: The Dark Chapter (2023)

5/5. This highlight has great harmonies that fit well with the screamed vocals. I also love the cleans and the bridge in the second half.

The Amenta - "Slave" from n0n (2008)

5/5. Another perfect standout, having some killer guest vocals by Nergal of Behemoth.

Death SS - "Heck of a Day" from The 7th Seal (2006)

4.5/5. Heck of a day, a f***ing h*ll of a doomy heavy/industrial metal track.

Nailbomb - "Guerrillas" from Point Blank (1994)

4/5. Another one of my favorites in this Nailbomb album.

OOMPH! - "Feiert das Kreuz" from Sperm (1994)

3.5/5. Another good track from an otherwise poor start to NDH.

Malhavoc - "Empirical Minds" from The Release (1990)

4/5. A wicked early track of thrashy industrial metal, originating from their 1988 EP Shrine.

Fear Factory - "Descent" from Obsolete (1998)

4.5/5. This excellent highlight is the closest we have to a poppy song in this album.

Halo - "Perpetual Rust" from Guattari (From the West Flows Grey Ash and Pestilence) (2001)

4/5. "Crushing, subversive anti-music. Maximum density heaviness fuses with caustic noise textures, creating cascading walls of sound." No better description than that!

Skrew - "Sputnik" from Angel Seed XXIII (1997)

3.5/5. This slow sludgy track is great for a motorcycle ride in the night.

Godflesh - "Live to Lose" from Us and Them (1999)

4/5. This one is probably the best track of the album if you wish to explore more of Godflesh's heavy riffing. It is a bonus track recorded during the Songs of Love and Hate sessions that ended up in this album.

Rammstein - "Laichzeit" from Herzeleid (1995)

4.5/5. Rammstein wouldn't have been suitable for me 10 years ago when I was young and still listening to a lot of power/symphonic metal. This song has a little more German than you wish you learned. But I'm still intrigued by this. And there would be more disturbing sex-filled tracks later where that came from...

Turmion Katilot - "Kuoleman Juuret" from Global Warning (2020)

5/5. This highlight keeps the vocal strength going further with more brutal energy than that Rammstein track.

Sybreed - "I Am Ultraviolence" from The Pulse of Awakening (2009)

4.5/5. After that, I'm reminded how excellent this playlist and the original Sybreed album is with this aggressive violent explosion of heaviness to make up for two earlier slightly out-of-place tracks. The extreme strength of Strapping Young Lad being added here makes a lot more sense.

We Are PIGS, The Anix - "Brazen" from Brazen (2021)

4/5. So beautiful and lively! This is real heartful music to brush aside any audible extra effects. A potential divine hit!

Uniform - "Alone in the Dark" from The Long Walk (2018)

4.5/5. Uniform has made some sick as f*** music including their collaborations with The Body. Sh*t, I can hear both a sped up Electric Wizard and Converge here!

Pitchshifter - "Stop Talking So Loud" from PSI (2002)

4/5. I feel like this is a reminder for what people sometimes say when I speak, "Stop talking so loud, I can't hear what you saying!" Of course I don't actually talk that loud. This song is pleasantly loud and intense though. I also enjoy that f***ing heavy bridge.

Device - "Haze (feat. M. Shadows)" from Device (2013)

3.5/5. This one featuring Avenged Sevenfold vocalist M. Shadows is another solid collab. These guest appearances really help boost the quality of the song's original album in most cases.

Black Comedy - "Lord of Locust" from Instigator (2008)

4/5. Nice track! Such a shame this band isn't so active and popular.

Combichrist - "Planet Doom" from CMBCRST (2024)

4.5/5. Exciting electro-industrial metal that's not totally out of line. You can dance to the electronic rhythm and headbanging to the guitar riffing. So wicked and amazing!

Neurotech - "Decipher" from The Decipher Volumes (2013)

5/5. The ultimate highlight of this entire playlist is this 7-minute instrumental epic. It's surprising because it's just the soft ethereal new age of Enigma and Vangelis. This atmospheric mini-journey is in a similar vein to the softer half of Blue Screen Planet. Beautiful and suitable for the near-end of a Sphere playlist.

Megaherz - "Augenblick" from 5 (2004)

4.5/5. Finally, we end with one of the best tracks of NDH, also a soft ballad. But don't worry, more of the earlier metallic action will continue in the next playlist...

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any industrial metal fan and anyone who isn't into industrial metal but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Dal Av - "Petrichor" from Petrichor (2022)

4.5/5. Here's a brutal intro to start it all. Check out this ultra-heavy breakdown!

Like Moths to Flames - "The Worst in Me" from When We Don't Exist (2011)

5/5. And the heaviness keeps going! I can understand who later bands like Bad Omens and Beartooth have gotten their respective sounds from.

Shadow of Intent - "The Prelude to Bereavement" from Primordial (2016)

5/5. The rising dramatic strings that begin this glorious highlight might make you think it's an actual prelude, but that all changes when the heavy instrumentation comes in. It's basically a more epic brutal hardcore take on the Finnish melodeath of Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum!

Killswitch Engage - "Forever Aligned" from This Consequence (2025)

4.5/5. Jesse Leach still has his vocal strength just like in those kick-A first two albums. The music is amazing including the harsh vocal verses. This catchy banger shall age well. I also hear a bit of a modern Soilwork vibe. And this is a few months after All That Remains and As I Lay Dying also made their respective comebacks. I enjoy the chorus despite a slight issue with Adam D.'s cleans, probably would've been better with Howard Jones there instead of Adam. The outro is so beautiful too!

August Burns Red - "Your Little Suburbia in Ruins" from Thrill Seeker: 20th Anniversary Edition (2025)

5/5. The opening has a catchy riff and fast drums, leading into an earth-shattering breakdown. That's a fast song with interesting riffs that are never cliche.

All That Remains - "The Piper" from Antifragile (2025)

5/5. This one is a more technical highlight, displaying his talents that help take the band to the next level. There's a lot more complexity than before while balancing it out with the usual hooks. Wonderful!

HEAVENSGATE - "RATKING" from RATKING (2024)

4.5/5. Heavensgate (the metalcore band, not the 80s/90s power metal one) was formed by David Wilder and Josh Ang when they were pushed out of Dealer. I have a feeling this may be an attack on Dealer vocalist Eliaz's abuse allegations, "separate art from artist with a head cut off".

Carnifex - "How the Knife Gets Twisted" from Necromanteum (2023)

5/5. One of my favorite bangers from the new Carnifex album. The epic chorus seals the deal of the band joining the symphonic blackened deathcore league, practically different from their sound in earlier more brutal albums like Until I Feel Nothing.

Demon Hunter - "Worlds Apart" from Worlds Apart (2024)

5/5. I believe it was Killing Floor 2 that got my brother and eventually me into listening to this band, with a couple of his favorite songs from the band in that game's soundtrack. And today, they're still creating awesome bangers like this one.

Amaranthe - "Supersonic" from Maximalism (2016)

4.5/5. The most impressive track of its original album with supersonic up-tempo synth-metal instrumentation blended with choir vocals that tribute to Queen much better than "That Song".

BOI WHAT - "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" from Boulevard of Broken Dreams (2025)

4/5. Seems like BOI WHAT is doing covers now. I just hope he will do Motionless in White's "Cyberhex" (Plankton and Karen). This Green Day cover was made after Bring Me the Horizon's cover of "Wonderwall". I especially like how part of the second verse is turned into a brutal breakdown. We didn't ask for that cover, but I'm glad we got it.

In Hearts Wake - "Traveller (The Fool)" from Divination (2012)

3.5/5. Another solid track with good vocals, especially the cleans.

Plague Thy Child - "Autumn" from Plague Thy Child (2001)

3/5. This one combines that brutal sound with dark melodies, sounding quite beautiful, but everything else about the song and its original album is too bland or unclear.

A Day to Remember - "I'm Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?" from Homesick (2009)

3.5/5. Homesick still has some heavy metalcore bangers despite emphasizing their pop punk side more. The classic lineup from this album and For Those Who Have Heart is a solid one, despite guitarist Tom Denney leaving the band shortly after, and Joshua Woodard having recently left the band after You're Welcome due to abuse allegations and causing someone's death in a car crash. The guest vocals by Mike Hranica (The Devil Wears Prada) are quite wild.

Architects - "Curse" from The Sky, the Earth & All Between (2025)

4/5. Apparently, this banger from the new Architects album is in the soundtrack of WWE 2025. So f***ing underrated, with choruses that sound like the choruses they're meant to be. Plus a bit of Bring Me the Horizon vibes here and there.

Lauren Babic - "Sanctuary" from Too Much and Never Enough (2025)

3.5/5. From beautiful to vicious, Lauren's vocals can practically rival Emily Armstrong.

Annisokay - "STFU" from Aurora (2021)

4/5. I hear a bit of Asking Alexandria of In Hearts Wake here. F***ing brutal lyrics in this one!

Lamb of God - "Ruin" from As the Palaces Burn (2003)

4.5/5. Didn't expect a Lamb of God track here, did you? I just realized that a few of their earlier classic tracks still have some metalcore/hardcore potential. I love the awesome intro and pummeling breakdown.

Imminence - "Continuum (feat. Niklas Karlsson)" from Continuum (2024) 

5/5. The perfection of Imminence's new singles continues with this highlight, sounding both brutal and beautiful. Like f***ing beyond beautiful! And more brutal thanks to Niklas Karlsson of Orbit Culture.

Shokran - "Imhotep: The Falcon of Gold" from Duat (2024)

4.5/5. Another crushing track to take the throne. Enough said!

Void of Vision - "Purge" from Broken // Bones (2016)

4.5/5. F***ing sh*t, this is brutal! Too bad that band is gone now.

ERRA - "Render the Void" from Impulse (2011)

5/5. Erra and Silent Planet are a couple of the most underrated bands in progressive metalcore. This is one of the f***ing best songs by this band, especially that two-minute outro of glory.

Every Time I Die - "Punch-Drunk Punk Rock Romance" from Last Night in Town (2001)

4.5/5. Ooh yeah, Howard Jones before he joined Killswitch Engage! He appears near the two-minute mark.

God Forbid - "Gone Forever" from Gone Forever (2004)

5/5. Another awesome song with great soloing!

If Not for Me - "Tragedy" from Everything You Wanted (2024)

4.5/5. Yet another heavy beautiful banger to love. What else can I say?

Converge - "Color Me Blood Red" from Petitioning the Empty Sky (1996)

5/5. The last studio song of this Converge release is one of my favorites here and delights me with tight metal melody over an incredible breakdown. Then it goes on with killer metalcore until the end.

From Autumn to Ashes - "Pioneers" from Holding a Wolf by the Ears (2007)

4.5/5. From Autumn to Ashes are one of the timeless pioneers are blending metalcore with emocore, but they ended up splitting up after this album's release. However, they've been performing live for a decade after reforming. Let's hope for a new album soon...

Rolo Tomassi - "Fantasia" from Hysterics (2008)

5/5. An underrated progressive Nintendo-ish mathcore epic! The second half ends it all similarly to one of Cult of Luna's closing tracks.

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any metalcore fan and anyone who isn't into metalcore but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Mechina - "Godspeed, Vanguards" from As Embers Turn to Dust (2017)

5/5. The namesake album for the band's saga and this playlist begins with this epic which really shows what the band is about, as sci-fi sounds lead into orchestration, djenty riffing, and blasts all over. The production is quite solid, though it can't top the perfection of the previous two albums. The composition is sealed together in great synergy.

Avenged Sevenfold - "Nightmare" from Nightmare (2010)

4.5/5. Avenged Sevenfold, Evanescence, and Linkin Park are some of the most popular rock/metal bands in the new millennium. It's the kind of popularity you wish the original Teen Titans series would have and continue but instead is given to its dreaded spinoff Teen Titans Go. The heavier metal side of those bands is that long-gone yet underrated side. Still this is a modern classic popular amongst my family and friends.

Lethal - "Fire in Your Skin" from Programmed (1990)

4/5. Then we have classics from 80s/early 90s metal bands that were massively popular back then before the grunge/nu metal era. And somehow the more underrated songs like this one end up getting overshadowed.

Judas Priest - "Invincible Shield" from Invincible Shield (2024)

4.5/5. And a few of the very early metal bands are still going on since the 70s, probably the earliest one still active being Judas Priest. It's impressive how these guys who are over 70 keep up the strength they had in that classic heavy metal era.

Ozzy Osbourne - "Over the Mountain" from Diary of a Madman (1981)

4/5. OK, technically Black Sabbath would qualify the earliest metal band still active today, but their ultimate final concert in July comes after the band and Ozzy Osbourne himself retired from touring 7 to 8 years ago. Even young listeners in their 20s such as myself can jam out to classics by the Prince of Darkness. RIP guitarist Randy Rhoads

Dio - "The Last in Line" from The Last in Line (1984)

3.5/5. Around the time of that Ozzy Osbourne album above, Ronnie James Dio was with Black Sabbath, then he left and formed his own band Dio, as we all know. It starts off sounding a little too much like a Scorpions ballad in the one-minute intro, then we end up getting stronger classic metal. What a legend Dio was, RIP... And holy sh*t, what a blazing solo at the 3-minute mark. This song might just be suitable for radio, or at least it was in the 80s. We're the last in line!

Metallica - "Lux Æterna" from 72 Seasons (2023)

4/5. Now let's head to the new decade again and crank up the speed! No matter how much they've changed, there's still talent within this transcendence between styles.

Iron Maiden - "Hallowed Be Thy Name" from The Number of the Beast (1982)

3.5/5. Not totally the best, but I can understand how people can consider this another immortal classic.

White Zombie - "Children of the Grave" from Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath (1994)

4/5. Black Sabbath vs. White Zombie! Who performed this song better?! You decide! Great take on the original, though I'm not sure that Manson murders sample was called for or related to the original song.

Omen - "Teeth of the Hydra" from The Curse (1986)

4.5/5. Again we have heavy/power metal classics from the 80s that are hard to find in the modern era. Apparently, this one is inspired by Jason and the Argonauts. It's worth repeat listens and hearing the vocal glory of J.D. Kimball, RIP. This band is basically like Crimson Glory at that time with more battle-ready hymns. Quite superb and spell-binding! The soloing and bridge are also worth headbanging to. Peace, love, and 80s metal classics!

DragonForce - "A Draco Tale" from A Draco Tale (2024)

5/5. DragonForce has made another video game-based song, telling the tale of Draco from Brawl Stars. I love the chorus in this one. Let's go, Draco!

Kamelot - "The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)" from The Black Halo (2005)

5/5. Then we have the most likeable single in Kamelot's breakthrough album The Black Halo, a nice melodic contrast with the heavier tracks. The character Marguerite is sung by Simone Simons from Epica, that band who named themselves after the previous Kamelot album.

Blind Guardian - "The Quest for Tanelorn" from Somewhere Far Beyond (Revisited) (2024)

4.5/5. For any fan of fantasy books by writers like Michael Moorcock, you're bound to find something familiar in tracks like this one that refers to the fictional city of Tanelorn. Here we have a classic revisited! The music and lyrics are all quite pleasant. The storytelling grandeur would all lead to what they had in Nightfall in Middle-Earth.

Alestorm - "Keelhauled" from Black Sails at Midnight (2009)

4/5. Pirate metal is a genre that might be too cheesy for some, but it can still be quite fun. Still I've matured past being able to handle the cheesiness.

Rhapsody of Fire - "Diamond Claws" from Challenge the Wind (2024)

4/5. The Nephilim's Empire Saga is still going on, and Rhapsody of Fire are going strong. The soloing surrounding the 3-minute mark rules!

Estate - "Matter of Time" from Mirrorland (2018)

4.5/5. Then we go slightly more progressive alongside some beautiful vocals. The arrangement is quite excellent, having that Avantasia vibe without any of the guest vocalists. Give us more!

Firewind - "Fallen Angel" from Stand United (2024)

5/5. Epic speedy power metal similar to DragonForce! This highlight also appears in the NHL 25 soundtrack.

Stratosphere - "The Battle Within" from Fire Flight (2010)

4.5/5. A little less speed while having the neoclassical progressiveness of Royal Hunt, along with the amazing voice of Goran Edman. Works well for something neoclassical.

Warmen - "Salieri Strikes Back" from Beyond Abilities (2001)

4/5. Load up the neoclassical harpsichord and shredding, though maybe not too much next time.

Epica - "Canvas of Life" from The Quantum Enigma (2014)

4.5/5. Some symphonic metal ballads are still suitable for me when it's all about beauty in the music and depth in the lyrics. This is still one of my favorite Epica tracks, and it fits well for anyone's safe haven.

Starkill - "Detonate" from Gravity (2019)

5/5. Now this is the kind of symphonic metal I still find awesome, blending heaviness and melody at ease. Great chorus is this absolutely underrated song!

Queensryche - "Roads to Madness" from The Warning (1984)

4.5/5. And lastly, another sick 9-minute epic that's like Queensryche's own "Heaven and Hell"/"Hallowed Be Thy Name".

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any heavy/power/symphonic/neoclassical metal fan and anyone who isn't into those genres but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!

Ben, please add There for Tomorrow. Their 2004 debut Point of Origin is considered melodic metalcore in RYM.

A Spotify playlist I've made based on my Neurotech favorite tracks list: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1fe4e87QJUw8Ej9JxkUUEu

And now for one of the most diverse one-man projects in industrial/cyber metal, coming from Slovenia:

Neurotech (including EPs that aren't compiled in albums)

1. Stigma

2. Infra Versus Ultra

3. Ave Neptune

4. Symphonies

5. Memory Eternal

6. Solace

7. The Decipher Volumes

8. Symphonies II

9. The Catalyst

10. Unreleased Demos (2011 - 2016)

11. Blue Screen Planet

12. In Remission

13. Antagonist

14. Transhuman

15. Evasive

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Accept - "Metal Heart" from Metal Heart (1985)

4.5/5. 40 years ago, this is what metalheads call a banger, and I agree with them. I love how they added in some classical themes from Tchaikovsky and Beethoven.

Capilla Ardiente - "The Hands of Fate Around My Neck" from Where Gods Live and Men Die (2024)

4/5. A doomy heavy metal epic. Enough said!

Throne of Iron - "Past the Doors of Death" from Adventure One (2020)

3.5/5. Same with this one, though here it has a more galloping pace.

Savatage - "Strange Reality" from Streets - A Rock Opera (1991)

4/5. Another melodic heavy metal highlight to sing along to.

Sabaton - "Unbreakable" from The Art of War (2008)

4.5/5. This progressive highlight is one of the best songs I've heard by Sabaton, and I still think that today. It's the band's own Black Sabbath "Heaven and Hell"!

Heavenly - "Sign of the Winner" from Sign of the Winner (2001)

5/5. Absolute power metal greatness with superb guitarwork by Frédéric Leclercq who would later become the bassist for DragonForce.

Blind Guardian - "Nightfall" from Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998)

4.5/5. I still know this track as a power metal classic, better than that d*mn "Bard's Song". This is how I knew the character Morgoth before the German death metal band.

Saxon - "Crusader" from Crusader (1984)

4/5. Anyone into NWOBHM, join the Saxon crusade!

Medieval Steel - "Medieval Steel" from Medieval Steel (1984, reissued on The Dungeon Tapes (2005))

4.5/5. I hope this doesn't sound sinful, but this track sounds like Twisted Sister gone Riot/Omen. That said, it really rocks out as a metal hymn. It's practically the band's own theme song! Not all heroes wear capes; some wield swords or play metal. Classic heavy metal can be quite interesting.

Lethal - "Arrival" from Programmed (1990) 

4/5. Classic tracks like this still exist. Keep it real!

Taramis - "Doesn't Seem" from Queen of Thieves (1988)

4.5/5. Cool 80s progressive power metal right there!

Conception - "Silent Crying" from Parallel Minds (1993)

5/5. A fantastic out-of-this world ballad, and I don't usually say that about ballads. I haven't heard Conception until, but I'm glad there's the beauty of Roy Khan's singing before he joined Kamelot. Such a wonderful piece! From what I heard, Conception is kinda like a more progressive take on Khan's early years with Kamelot. They've recently returned with a new EP and album. The ballad reminds me of the ones by early Nevermore and Crimson Glory. There's nothing cheesy in this plate!

Rampage - "Benevolent Approach" from Acid Storm demo (1986, reissued on Veil of Mourn (1988))

4.5/5. After that slow ballad, we go fast again with this pretty amazing heavy/speed metal demo track.

Brocas Helm - "Fly High" from Black Death (1988)

4/5. Another great hymn with slight hints of Iron Maiden.

Attacker - "Battle at Helm Deep" from Downfall (1985)

3.5/5. 80s US power metal, closer to classic heavy metal, before Stratovarius and Hammerfall stormed in from Europe.

Destiny's End - "Breathe Deep the Dark" from Breathe Deep the Dark (1998)

4/5. In the 90s, Iced Earth and Destiny's End were still cranking up their classic heavy/US power metal sound. You might also know James Rivera as the vocalist of Helstar.

Concerto Moon - "The Gold Digger" from Back Beyond Time (2023)

3.5/5. Pretty good, but a little goofy for a band keeping up the Japanese power/neoclassical metal scene started by Galneryus.

Vitalij Kuprij - "Piano Overture" from Forward & Beyond (2004)

4/5. RIP Vitalij Kuprij. Enjoy this cool cover of Moonlight Sonata with Symphony X guitarist Michael Romeo.

Within Temptation - "Caged" from Mother Earth (2000)

4.5/5. Then we have the slow folk-ish highlight "Caged". Both the vocals by Sharon den Adel and the instrumentation are quite diverse. The peaceful calmness are at the right dose here, before it all ends up crashing down later in the original album.

Nightwish - "Ghost Love Score" from Once (2004)

4.5/5. The true epic of this playlist and its original album, and very much everything the album has already offered is blended together greatly. First we have a couple verses with more of the Eastern sitar, then it slows down to a ballad-like section, and after that, we have a lovely orchestral break that is well-executed. Immediately when the metal comes back on, you're hit by one of the most epic moments in symphonic metal, right before Tarja continues singing. And the rest is memorable too.

Mechina - "When Honor Meets Steel" from Venator (2022)

5/5. An aggressive way to head out than can pulverize those earlier melodic tracks, complete with blasts and more growls, most of them coming from guest vocalist Anna Hel. So brutally awesome!

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any heavy/power/symphonic/neoclassical metal fan and anyone who isn't into those genres but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!

Starkill started taking on more of an Epica/Trail of Tears-style symphonic metal direction in their latest album Gravity, but they still have their earlier melodeath in the heavy riffing and growled/screamed vocals. There are also enough fast melodic guitarwork, anthemic hooks, and fantasy lyrics to justify also adding the album to power metal. So I'd like to send Starkill's "Gravity" to the Hall with two submissions to be:

1. Added to power metal.

2. Added to The Horde and melodic death metal.

If the latter entry passes, I'd like to encourage Horde members to vote in the symphonic death metal subgenre.

Here's my review summary:

What makes Stormlord stand out in the symphonic black metal pack is the lyrics centered around Italian mythology, and it fits well for when the music alternates between melodic and thrashy. At the Gates of Utopia is the band's second album and their first with the locally popular Scarlet Records after a decade in the underground. Many songs have an epic black metal structure of fast guitars and drums occasionally slowing down for a gloomy section. Even people like me who aren't into black metal that much can enjoy this power and glory. There's also some dramatic choir and male operatic singing. Still we have great speed in the guitars, bass, and drums, in conjunction with the epic atmosphere. As amazing as At the Gates of Utopia is, I still don't feel up to switching back to the on side of my on-off relationship with black metal. Nonetheless, this is the best I've heard from symphonic black metal in a long while, particularly in some highly memorable tracks including the title intermission. As for a couple tracks, they rule too but could've had less forced ideas. With all that said, power metal-ish symphonic black metal might just be worth it for any metal listener!

4.5/5

Recommended tracks: "Under the Samnites' Spears", "Xanadu (A Vision in a Dream)", "At the Gates of Utopia", "The Curse of Medusa", "The Secrets of the Earth"

For fans of: Arcturus' 1996 debut, Bal-Sagoth, Demoniac (the pre-DragonForce band formed in New Zealand)

Here's my review summary:

The musical journey of Trail of Tears was filled with sorrow (Helena Iren Michaelsen era), darkness (A New Dimension of Might), violence (Kjetil Nordhus era), and accessible glory (Cathrine Paulsen's second era). It really is a shame that the band fell apart after Bloodstained Endurance and Oscillation. The talented voice of Cathrine can't be found anywhere besides this band and Lucid Fear. During the split, Ronny Thorsen was in a different band, Viper Solfa. And now these extreme gothic metallers are reborn! Two singles were released, leading up to the EP Winds of Disdain. Their greatness is still in full force, but a new female vocalist has stepped in, Ailyn. Here we have crushing guitars, bombastic symphonics, bass/drum assaults, and cool synth effects to reminds us who they are. I look forward to if the band ever makes a new album with this kind of sound plus more of the occasional acoustic section and audible bass. An absolute must for any symphonic gothic metal fan. Oscillation wasn't their final stand after all!

5/5

Recommended tracks: all of them, especially "Winds of Disdain", "No Colours Left"

For fans of: Epica, Sirenia, Starkill

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Fear Factory - "Edgecrusher" from Obsolete (1998)

4.5/5. I like how the first track of this playlist starts with a disclaimer saying "Due to the graphic nature of this program, listener discretion is advised." Interestingly, the playlist has only a couple "explicit" tracks in the middle. Anyway, the tough lyrics and hip-hop beat sound quite odd in the band's attempt to discard their death metal roots, yet it brings me great delight. Guilty pleasure, much!?

Turmion Kätilöt - "Pirun Nyrkki" from Pirun Nyrkki (2006)

5/5. This was actually the first track of the first very Sphere playlist back in August 2020, so it's the perfect throwback to that, a true highlight combining speed with industrial synths, almost like a blend of Strapping Young Lad and Deathstars.

Deathstars - "The Last Ammunition" from Termination Bliss (2006)

5/5. Speaking of Deathstars, holy sh*t, this is another brilliant highlight. There really should've been a single for this, being the 3rd-best song of its original album (behind "Cyanide" and "Blitzkrieg"), though maybe I would find better songs in the others. If there ever was a video for this song, it could be the soundtrack for the combat sequence of a modern war video game. With dramatic rhythm, synths, and vocals, this is as perfect bliss as those two other favorites. You must check them out!

Rabbit Junk - "Denature" from Denature (2021)

4.5/5. Now this shall shine well in this playlist. I can probably sing along to this catchy tune.

Terminal Choice - "Don't Go" from New Born Enemies (2006)

4/5. I like this cover of a Yazoo hit. Tracks like this shall never go away!

Ludovico Technique - "Embrace" from Haunted People (2022)

3.5/5. Another newfound dark industrial metal track, though the chorus is a bit repetitive.

Sphere (NO) - "Primordial" from Primordial (2013)

4/5. Shouldn't this band be called Horde/Infinite/Sphere because of the industrial/cyber metal mixed with djenty melodeath? Jokes aside, that chorus f***ing rules! This blend of cleans and uncleans can also be found in Black Comedy. "MAKE 'EM BLEED."

Digimortal - "Белое знамя" from Белое знамя (2024)

4.5/5. Stay loyal to this modern cyber metal sound, help keep it alive!

Neurotech - "The Serpent Bites" from Ave Neptune (2023)

5/5. This absolute highlight might just be one of my favorite tracks by this band, with excellent riffing and a catchy chorus.

Oblivion Machine - "Shield Mode" from Zero-Gravity (2011)

4.5/5. Groove-ish industrial/cyber metal suitable for Star Trek and Warframe.

Circle of Dust - "Telltale Crime" from Brainchild (1994)

5/5. A lot more people need to hear more of Klayton's underrated pre-Celldweller projects.

Blue Stahli - "Gravity" from Obsidian (2021)

4.5/5. Bret Autrey's singing sounds so peaceful in the heavy instrumentation. That's what I love about Blue Stahli.

Cypecore - "Neoteric Gods" from Make Me Real (2024)

5/5. This one kicks off the technical action hard. This is deathly djenty industrial/groove metal at its best! It impresses me with its background synths and its dark yet anthemic chorus. I love it, and I'm sure Cypecore fans would too.

The Axis of Perdition - "This, Then, in Paradise?" from Deleted Scenes From the Transition Hospital (2005)

4.5/5. Industrial metal takes a more ambient black metal turn with this nightmarish yet beautiful beast.

The Amenta - "Obliterate’s Prayer" from Flesh is Heir (2013)

5/5. This highlight has gigantic hooks to obliterate anything in the song's path.

Corrections House - "Dirt Poor and Mentally Ill" from Last City Zero (2013)

4.5/5. This one has chanting vocals while still making room for Williams' rage. Soon the lyrics become more poetic, especially in the spoken bridge.

Sybreed - "Bioactive (Neurotech Remix)" from Bioactive Remixes (2025)

5/5. Now this is the best of both worlds! As with the original, you get to hear the members drive through sonic cyber/industrial metal without relying too much on electronics. Here we have the powerful drumming of Alex Anxionaz, showing a bit of Fear Factory influence, the gloomy vocals of Benjamin Nominet ranging from clean to harsh, the heavy guitar grooves of Drop, and the burning bass of Burn.

Nine Inch Nails - "Give Up" from Fixed (1992)

4.5/5. This remix is a great example of how the guitar riff blasts are still around despite the industrial parts.

Eisbrecher - "Kaltfront" from Kaltfront (2025)

4/5. Eisbrecher has a new album coming out later this month or so. Fans of Rammstein and other NDH shall get the h*ll ready!

Viter - "Two Colors" from Springtime (2012)

3.5/5. Viter blends industrial metal with medieval folk similarly to Subway to Sally, which is nice, but not totally my thing.

Rammstein - "Engel" from Sehnsucht (1997)

4/5. Singing along to Rammstein's lyrics is a great way to learn German, though I'm better off staying with English and my native language.

Morgoth - "A New Start" from Feel Sorry for the Fanatic (1996)

4.5/5. Morgoth had a different start with this album, a detour into alt-/industrial metal as opposed to their usual death metal.

KMFDM - "Trust" from Nihil (1995)

4/5. This one has another female sung chorus, by Dorona Alberti, "Do what you can, what you want, what you must, feel the hunger inside, don't lose your trust", which has a funny similarity to Steely Dan, and is ironic during the battle for idealism that ends up getting lost.

Tyrant of Death - "Biomechanical" from Biomechanical (2014)

4.5/5. I shouldn't have to explain this amazing 10-minute instrumental djenty industrial metal epic.

Black Light Discipline - "Faded" from Faded (2018)

4/5. Black Light Discipline have their own underrated cyber metal sound going on. There's much more emotion in his vocals than in the original Alan Walker song. You know how much I love covers that metalize the original song and give it their own spin. I like the more top-notch upbeat sound here. The bass is quite cool too.

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any industrial metal fan and anyone who isn't into industrial metal but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Underoath - "Breathing in a New Mentality" from Lost in the Sound of Separation (2008)

5/5. Honestly, this opening highlight can really take you by surprise by starting with riffs, drumming, and screams in a lower volume before shoving heavy loudness through your mouth and throat. This is a far more powerful opener than that of the previous album and playlist. Spencer Chamberlain's screaming sound demanding while Aaron Gillespie's drumming dominates and the guitar chords cuts more sharply than razor blades.

Trivium - "Rain" from Ascendancy (2005)

5/5. This next song kicks off the metal action in a vicious bang, setting a feverish pace maintained throughout its original album.

Falling in Reverse - "Raised by Wolves" from The Drug in Me Is You (2011)

4.5/5. Pre-Popular Monster Falling in Reverse isn't really metal nor something I really like, but this kick-A first track of their debut is as metalcore as they could get back then, mixing it with their usual pop punk similarly to early A Day to Remember.

BOI WHAT - "Let Me Crawl" from Let Me Crawl (2025)

4.5/5. Plankton AI metal goes Linkin Park/Memphis May Fire/Architects.

Bleed from Within - "Hands of Sin" from Hands of Sin (2024)

5/5. An awesome hard-hitter with a deep chorus, "Stood on the outside I'm looking in, holding peace in hands of sin. This moral mind wears a second skin, the end is now where I begin."

Shadow of Intent - "The Return" from Reclaimer (2017)

5/5. Technical deathcore is practically combined with the symphonic power metal guitarwork of Symphony X and Iced Earth. If the clean vocals were higher and more operatic, the band would've beaten Dragoncorpse in that game. Plus there's some medieval harpsichord! Now there's still the more extreme side of the spectrum with the brutal breakdown and the blackened death growls. It's amazing that the vocalist Ben Duerr would still have that power in their next album.

Carnifex - "No Light Shall Save Us" from World War X (2019)

4.5/5. An antiheroic anthem to love and embrace the darkness, featuring Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz.

A Night in Texas - "The God Delusion" from The River Delusion (2015)

4/5. Death metal/core continues to strike with its great cosmos-destroying might.

The Acacia Strain - "Beast" from Wormwood (2010)

4.5/5. "Whatever is necessary to do, you do it. Whenever somebody needs to be killed, there's no wrong, you do it, and you move on." "My life is a shooting range, people never change." Those lyrics are better taken as an incentive for taking on video game bosses. F***ing bad-a** downtempo deathcore featuring Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed.

CABAL - "Redemption Denied" from Redemption Denied (2025)

4/5. Another underrated band rises in the deathcore horde. Let's all stop being fixated on the behind-the-scenes drama of the genre and focus on how sick the music's gonna be this year. Other bands heading up include Humanity's Last Breath, Black Tongue, and Paleface Swiss. The lyrics and drumming are quite great here. So brutal as f*** with lots of creativity and noise.

Dal Av, Andy Cizek - "Remember Me" from Remember Me (2023)

4.5/5. With Monuments vocalist Andy Cizek onboard, it's a battle of demons and angels that can make any car ride brutal. Absolute djenty metalcore gold!

Shokran - "Supreme Truth" from Supreme Truth (2014)

4/5. I love this track getting me hypnotized by the riffs and growls sounding like Whitechapel while mixed with stunning melodies.

Mindsnare - "Flood" from Credulity (1996)

3.5/5. Pretty good early hardcore/metalcore track though it would've been better without that one-minute intro ("CAN YOU HEAR ME!?!").

Ice Nine Kills - "Dead is the New Black" from The Burning (2007)

4/5. This is from Ice Nine Kills' earlier era before they went all intense and horror-themed. Spencer Charnas is quite talented in his vocals and guitarwork. They've already gotten past their ska punk phase at this point.

Vianova - "Melanchronic" from Melanchronic (2025)

4.5/5. A sick song for a fun night drive, almost like Neurotech gone metalcore.

Get the Shot - "Pit of Misery" from Pit of Misery (2025)

4/5. This journey through brutal death/metalcore insanity isn't over yet...

Parkway Drive - "It's Hard to Speak Without a Tongue" from Killing with a Smile (2005)

4.5/5. This one is a standout track beginning with a simple clean guitar riff before drilling drums and thunderous bass come in followed and impressive solo-like melody. The melody fades into a quieter riff to fit it with the growling. That melody is used again the chorus section. An unusually well-balanced song for Parkway Drive!

Eighteen Visions - "A Short Walk Down a Long Hallway" from Vanity (2002)

5/5. The best track of its original album for me. The singing, soloing, riffing, and lyrics all reach their very peak. "Disgust, disgrace, you'll slap that look right off of my face, I'll play God, I'll play dead, You'll be the one to shoot me in the head." I also love the screaming by Corey Darst from The Pretty Weapons who was also a live vocalist for Zao.

Imminence - "Proclaim" from The Reclamation of I (2024)

4.5/5. The violin that starts this track might have some listeners confused thinking they put on a My Dying Bride album, but then it explodes into dramatic metalcore, not too far off from The Showdown's 2004 debut instrumentally.

Make Them Suffer - "No Hard Feelings" from Make Them Suffer (2024)

5/5. Alex Reade has more of the divine spotlight in this highlight. The heaviness is toned down slightly for some lovely melody, while staying fast and killer. Sean Harmanis continues his harsh screams while also offering some gruff singing behind Reade. They both might make the best metal vocal duo of the year alongside Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda and Emily Armstrong!

Alleviate - "Forevermore" from DMNS (2024)

4.5/5. One of the heaviest songs I've heard in modern metalcore. You don't wanna miss out on the chaos that is two minutes of your life you want more of. This banger is more brutal than even the heaviest of As I Lay Dying. Lots of interesting fire to make up for the worst of times.

Graphic Nature - "Human" from Who Are You When No One is Watching? (2024)

4/5. This one has more melodic synths, while blending it with heavy guitars, a balance already mastered by Sleep Token.

Hollow Front - "Caved In" from Homewrecker (2017)

3.5/5. Pretty cool, but I wish there could've been some Cave In-like experimentation.

Convictions - "Sleeping Lotus" from The Fear of God (2024)

4/5. Such a destructive yet beautiful tune. What else can I say?

Inertia - "Theist" from Unlearn (2017)

4.5/5. Bad-a** lyrics once again, with the music reminding me of Polaris.

Half Me - "Fatalist" from Opium EP (2024)

4/5. "I WILL DIE AS A FATALIST!!!!!" The breakdown goes quite hard, as much as the ones by Thrown, whom they have collaborated with previously.

Rolo Tomassi - "Opalescent" from Grievance (2015)

4.5/5. Rolo Tomassi never disappoints! The drums start off jazzy then, at the end, rise into massive blackened blasts. The instrumentation and vocals are quite beautiful, though if there was any screamed vocals, it would've been perfect.

Ion Dissonance - "(D.A.B.D.A.) State of Discomposure" from Cast the First Stone (2016)

5/5. See what I mean!? Those growled/screamed vocals help make this the fantastic nearly 9-minute mathcore epic it is.

Revnoir - "Revenge" from Revenge (2025)

4.5/5. Revnoir, along with Landmvrks, Novelists, and Resolve, have the ambition to bring light to the French metalcore scene with heavy bangers like this. D*mn, I'm so proud of those guys!

All That Remains - "Blood & Stone" from Antifragile (2025)

5/5. Finally we have this epic emotional closing track. The piano intro and outro are performed by none other than Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater. And in between is a metalcore extravaganza of heavy riffs and whimsical DragonForce-like leads. Philip Labonte lets out perhaps his most dynamic vocals to date. The perfect way to close this masterpiece album and this playlist!

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any metalcore fan and anyone who isn't into metalcore but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!

Here's my review summary:

I would've thought this smooth cyber/industrial metal sound was weird a few years ago, before I realized its true potential. Now it's something so fresh and unique that's hard to find in any other band or style. Ave Neptune continues restoring the many aspects of Neurotech's material from 10 years prior, while adding new stuff including the occasional acoustic bridge and even extreme blast beats. Wulf's ongoing journey of electronics blended with metal is something once done by Dead by April and The Browning, only mellower and more focused on electronics while still having a great deal of metal, with excellent riffing, pleasant singing, and catchy choruses. All in all, Ave Neptune has been an amazing experience in the cyber realm of Neurotech, with some of my newfound favorite tracks by the band. I look forward to hearing more of the band's discography and finding out which albums can surpass this one. All hail Neurotech!

4.5/5

Recommended tracks: "Mundane Entropy", "The Serpent Bites", "Repent in Need", "Inner Quest", "The Years of the Flood"

For fans of: Deathstars, Mechina, The Browning's "Skybreaker"

Here's my review summary:

Shadow of Intent made a couple albums based on their favorite video game franchise Halo. After that, with another new lineup, Ben Duerr and Chris Wiseman have made a separate concept album about mass suicides at the hands of a demonic goddess. So dark, so depressing, yet... so intriguing! Until at least 5 years ago, I was never really into deathcore. At first I thought it was like standard death metal with metalcore breakdowns. The kind of deathcore I prefer is when the genre goes progressive and symphonic. I only just discovered this band a couple years ago, and eventually it has managed to grow on me with epic extreme songs showcasing the harsh vocals by Ben Duerr and the searing guitar work of Chris Wiseman, alongside orchestration filled with eeriness and drama. Before this discovery, albums like Make Them Suffer's Neverbloom and Lorna Shore's Pain Remains have been my go-to albums for symphonic deathcore. In comes Shadow of Intent's Melancholy, an epic riff-tastic melodic deathcore album to please any metalhead. I just found a new best album of 2019!

5/5

Recommended tracks: "Gravesinger", "Barren and Breathless Macrocosm", "Dirge of the Void", "The Dreaded Mystic Abyss", "Malediction"

For fans of: Fleshgod Apocalypse, Lorna Shore, early Make Them Suffer

https://metal.academy/hall/571

We definitely don't need to worry about that now. Seems like RYM is aware of the scene/genre situation and will fix the issue in a later update. Here's what they had to say:

"For the moment Scene and Movement voting is still mixed in with genre voting on this page, even though they are now displayed separately. The voting UI for this will be improved at some point in the future.

"For Scenes and Movements the primary/secondary vote distinction is irrelevant, it is recommended to just vote them up in the Primary section but in the future the voting data for these will likely be combined. Again this is something that will be improved in future site updates."

While I guess Mirror's Edge is a staple of The Gateway, it doesn't do a whole lot for me I must admit. The first track proper, "Afterimage" is the only one to offer any appeal to me, the female vocals being very nice and the track generally being less in-your-face than the other material. An overall sound that seems like a mixture of metalcore, nu-metal, djent and some industrial and electronic stylings, it doesn't speak to me at all, but its choppy riffing and angst-ridden vocals manage to irritate the shit out of me if I am being honest. It does seem to be competently performed and the compressed production style is tailor-made for this sort of angsty material, so I am guessing it is exactly the kind of things the band's usual fans expect. It is clear that I am far from the target audience for this and sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say "We can't all like everything can we, so I'll leave this to those who get it". Sorry Andi.

1.5/5

I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.

Thanks, Daniel. Could you please also post or pass this nomination: https://metal.academy/forum/28/thread/2488

I've passed this nomination uncontested.

This is extraordinarily difficult for me to find.  The only band of this example with more four albums that I can think of is Boston, and they aren't even metal.  Yes, each one did get gradually worse, and they only have six.

After realizing that The Gateway was the only clan without a "band discography ranking" thread, I decided to start it here. If you have any bands whose albums you've ranked from best to worst, feel free to post them here.

Let's start with the world's most famous alt-rock/metal band:

Linkin Park

1. Meteora

2. Hybrid Theory

3. The Hunting Party

4. Hybrid Theory EP

5. Collision Course (EP)

6. From Zero

7. Papercuts (compilation)

8. Reanimation (remix album)

9. Xero Demo

10. Minutes to Midnight

11. Living Things

12. A Thousand Suns

13. One More Light

14. Recharged (remix album)

Here's my review summary:

Catch Thirty-Three is a concept album where all songs flow seamlessly together like an epic suite, similar to some Between the Buried and Me albums. A complete trek of a journey from start to finish, that you would want to do all over again. It's a djent journey not to be missed, with the usual downtuned guitars, bellowed vocals, and complex drumming (though it's programmed unlike the other albums). Lyrics, riffs, ambience, and seamless suite sections, all you can hear in this monstrous album. One word: brilliant!

5/5

Recommended tracks: The whole album, or if you just want separate tracks - "The Paradoxical Spiral", "Entrapment", "Mind’s Mirrors", "In Death" (both parts), "Shed", "Sum"

For fans of: Between the Buried and Me (for the "seamless album suite" aspect), Sikth, Textures

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

The Mad Capsule Markets - "INTRODUCTION 010" from 010 (2001)

4.5/5. Let's start with this intro that's good music for the industrial part of my metal heart.

Neurotech - "The Cyber Waltz" from The Decipher Volumes (2013)

5/5. This highlight greatly picks up where Blue Screen Planet left off. It's a true cyber metal anthem, with everything you can ask for from the symphonics, synths, electronics, pianos, guitars, drums, beats, and vocals. The perfect memorable beginning of this spacey journey, and done much better than the heavier first part of Blue Screen Planet.

Peace, Love & Pitbulls - "Das neue konzept" from Red Sonic Underwear (1994)

4.5/5. An excellent concept, though not really a concept track or concept album.

PAIN - "Not for Sale" from I Am (2024)

5/5. One of the best songs from the new album of this project founded by this f***ing legend that is Peter Tägtgren. This makes me feel like punching through glass even though I shouldn't. The Neurotech-ish keyboards in the bridge midway through sound epic, in contrast to the comedic lyrics.

Pitchshifter - "Product Placement" from Infotainment? (1996)

4.5/5. Quite amazing despite the band's transition to a more electronic sound.

Combichrist - "Guns at Last Dawn" from One Fire (2019)

4/5. An underrated heavy song featuring Fear Factory then-vocalist Burton C. Bell.

Rabbit Junk - "Bits and Razors" from Bits and Razors (2020)

4.5/5. With this much electronic fire, it would be interesting if this song ends up on Beat Saber. This is basically synth-fueled industrial metalcore that really levels up after the first minute. I might try singing/screaming along to this tune.

Mechina - "Freedom Foregone" from Siege (2021)

5/5. This 11 and a half minute epic is the band's longest song to be part of an album and not released as a separate single. Tragedy and triumph collide with each other, alongside more of the heavy instrumentation and emotional singing. Then after the final chorus, the last bit of clean guitar and violin melancholy close this chapter of the Mechina saga. But this playlist is far from over...

Samael - "In the Deep" from Lux Mundi (2011)

4.5/5. Can I get a "hail yeah" for this heavy song?!

Ludovico Technique - "Haunted" from Haunted People (2022)

4/5. From just the first 20 seconds, you know haunting this song is gonna get, as if it's sung by a vampire living in loneliness and immortality.

The Amenta - "Twined Towers" from Revelator (2021)

4.5/5. This one is The Amenta's longest song at 8 minutes and might remind some of a more brutal take on Ministry's mid-90s material.

Bad Omens, WARGASM (UK) - "Hedonist (Recharged)" from Concrete Jungle (The OST) (2024)

5/5. Wargasm strikes on in this energetic highlight packed with synths as heavy as the guitars. I've already heard of Wargasm via their remixes with Enter Shikari and Crossfaith. Milkie Way's vocals are more hyper than a sugar-buzzed cheerleader, and that's what I like there!

Circle of Dust - "Chasm" from Disengage (1998)

4.5/5. Disengage and Circle of Dust's other albums are worth giving lots of praise to.

AP2 - "The Red Shirt Conspiracy" from Suspension of Disbelief (2000)

5/5. This highlight actually sounds like an industrial take on the earlier thrash of Voivod and Sabbat with guest vocals by Joel Timothy Bell.

Celldweller - "One Good Reason" from Celldweller (2003)

4.5/5. Anyone who has played Need for Speed Most Wanted can recognize this song's instrumental version, but the original's killer too.

Acumen Nation - "Pistol Whip Me Back Into Your Arms" from Strike 4 (2000)

4/5. This one's great, but a little too rock-ish. "Pistol whip me back into your ARMS!!!!"

Blacklodge - "Culto Al Sol - Solarkult" from Machination (2012)

3.5/5. Heavy hellfire in this one, but maybe a bit too black metal-ish here.

Skrew - "Universal Immolation" from Universal Immolation (2014)

3/5. Skrew reformed with heavier deathly guitars and vocals while maintaining the samples and industrial elements. Still not feeling it much though.

Hint - "In Tenebris" from 100% White Puzzle (1995)

2.5/5. Wow, this is just a dark jazz interlude. Not sure at all while I put it there besides the fact that it's an interlude.

Megaherz - "Rock Me Amadeus" from Kopfschuss (1998)

3/5. Cool cover of that Falco hit, though it's still Neue Deutsche Härte.

Subway to Sally - "So Rot MMXXI" from Himmelfahrt (2023)

3.5/5. Slightly better and more beautiful, a good NDH take on a ballad from their earlier medieval folk era.

Seth Ect - "Orison II" from Godspeak (2011)

4/5. Great sequel to a Seth Ect track from an earlier playlist.

KMFDM - "Sucks" from Angst (1993)

4.5/5. You just gotta love this band's humor mixed with heavy riffing and industrial rock/metal.

Godflesh - "Tiny Tears" from Streetcleaner (1989)

5/5. And now, here we are at the final leg of this playlist, starting with my favorite song of that EP/side of Godflesh's debut Streetcleaner.

Static-X - "Invincible" from Shadow Zone (2003)

4.5/5. RIP Wayne Static. His music will remain invincible.

Motionless in White - "Somebody Told Me" from Disguise (2019, 2021 special edition)

5/5. I love this song, probably the best ever rendition of that Killers hit! Can be heard in the 2021 special edition of Disguise.

Sybreed - "Destruction and Bliss" from God is an Automaton (2012)

5/5. The 10-minute finale of its original album and this playlist is the best track here. It starts djenty as heavy rhythms fill the atmosphere. The best part is the kick-A solo by Travis Montgomery of Threat Signal. The perfect farewell from Sybreed!

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any industrial metal fan and anyone who isn't into industrial metal but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Any Given Day - "My Doom" from Everlasting (2016)

4.5/5. Let's start off with some melodic metalcore the way it's meant to be done, with strong clean vocals, just like Killswitch Engage.

Bleed from Within - "In Place of Your Halo" from In Place of Your Halo (2024)

5/5. And here's more of that, but more brutal, with some eerie bagpipes throughout the last minute.

Silent Planet - "Mindframe" from Mindframe (2024)

4.5/5. Let's drop that cyberpunk metalcore beat!

Resolve - "Exposed" from Reverie (2017)

4/5. There's a lot more music to explore, and sometimes you can get them from a Spotify recommendation or a YouTube ad. The chorus is really good here. It's a true banger than can barely disappoint! This band and Landmvrks have shaped up the French modern metalcore scene. The heavy structure really stands out.

Fit for a King - "Dead Memory (feat. Jake Luhrs)" from Deathgrip (2016)

4.5/5. I'm glad to give Fit for a King a chance the first time I listened to that band two years ago. The blend of heavy verses and clean choruses has quite an As I Lay Dying/Demon Hunter vibe. The guest vocals by Jake Luhrs of August Burns Red give the song great impact, almost as much as the other FFAK albums Creation/Destruction. Lots of metalcore emotion to love! "Would you even notice if my world was falling apart? Would you even care if my heart stopped beating?"

Hollow Front - "Hold Me Down" from Hold Me Down (2024)

4/5. F***ing talented drumming in this one! This band knows how to make kick-A songs that can stay fresh.

Memphis May Fire - "Sleepless Nights" from Unconditional (2014)

4.5/5. The lyrics here are quite relatable for anyone in sleepless anxiety.

Imminence - "86" from The Reclamation of I (2024)

5/5. With hammer-fists and drum sticks, Peter Hanstrom blasts through this highlight alongside talented screams and singing of Eddie Berg (also the violinist) that in turn go well with dissonant riffs and melodies. The lyrics are so beautiful and fit greatly even when screamed.

Demon Hunter - "Hell Don't Need Me" from Extremist (2014)

4.5/5. A slower and sludgier track that's quite interesting.

Trivium - "To the Rats" from The Crusade (2006)

4/5. One of only a couple tracks from The Crusade to qualify for The Revolution, this one balls out some chaotic thrashy metalcore while having a more positive chorus.

Still Remains - "The Worst is Yet to Come" from Of Love and Lunacy (2005)

4.5/5. An amazing classic example of melodic metalcore! "Is this embedded status permanent?!?"

Haste the Day - "Servant Ties" from Pressure the Hinges (2007)

5/5. One of the f***ing best songs by Haste the Day! I love the riffing and the vocals, even the cleans. The bridge at over the two minute mark is quite epic, as is the soloing 45 seconds later, one of the most awesome guitar solos in melodic metalcore.

Wage War - "Gravity" from Deadweight (2017)

4.5/5. The drop C-tuned melodic metalcore continues in a slower pace. Far better than the similar-sounding similarly-titled Bullet for My Valentine song!

Annisokay - "Never Enough" from Never Enough (2024)

4/5. Annisokay fans would certainly dig this 5 days early Christmas gift.

Bury Tomorrow - "Boltcutter" from The Seventh Sun (2023)

4.5/5. Another insane metalcore song to take your breath away.

Blessthefall, Alpha Wolf - "DRAG ME UNDER" from DRAG ME UNDER (2024)

5/5. Anyone else enjoy two bands in one song?! I certainly approve of this blessing!

The Browning - "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" from Blue (Da Ba Dee) (2025)

4.5/5. How about some Blue to go with that Browning? An epic cover, though I prefer the Fleshgod Apocalypse cover slightly more.

Eighteen Visions - "Fake Leather Jacket" from XVIII (2017)

5/5. This one turns things around as another highlight, and the strongest one here too. There are more of the vengeful screams by Hart, "LIAR!!!! SADIST!!! CORPORATE!!! RAPIST!!!" The heavy verses and anthemic choruses are the best of what the album has in store.

Rolo Tomassi - "The Hollow Hour" from Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It (2018)

5/5. A f***ing beautiful mathcore epic! They can go as progressive as Gojira with a bit of black metal in the heavier sections. Such an awesome banger!

Daughters - "Hyperventilationsystem" from Hell Songs (2006)

4.5/5. "Love is a disgusting thing", according to the chant in this hyper track that would keep you away from sleeping.

Knut - "Bound" from Leftovers (1997)

4/5. Another heavy mathcore track. RIP Didier Séverin

The Sleeper - "Paradigm" from Aurora (2013)

3.5/5. Quite brutal, but a little too much for a djenty metalcore track.

Aviana - "DELIRIUM" from DELIRIUM (2024)

4/5. A heavy ripped banger for a two-minute track! There's even a bit of hardstyle 40 seconds in.

Graphic Nature - "N.F.A." from Who Are You When No One Is Watching? (2024)

4.5/5. The hardcore heaviness shines the best in this short track. Enough said!

Memory of a Melody - "'Til Death Do Us Part" from Things That Make You Scream (2011)

4/5. What's not to love besides my brother enjoying this song? And why not? It's like if Breaking Benjamin leveled up the metalcore elements in their alt-rock/metal.

Convictions - "Eros" from I Am Nothing (2012)

4.5/5. This song is also excellent, though this Convictions EP is their only one with lead vocalist Dan Gardner. That's a shame because I love his screams here. It might remind some of Dream on Dreamer, especially the more hardcore yet clean singing at the two and a half minute mark.

Kingdom of Giants - "Smoke" from Bleeding Star (2024)

4/5. The electronic intro starts the song off interesting, but it gets heavier as it progresses, especially halfway through. Seems like we still have some cyberpunk metalcore left after that Silent Planet track. Northlane, Architects, and Bad Omens influences unite!

Filth - "Idle Hands" from The Burden of Isolation (2018)

4.5/5. Nothing but filthy brutal deathcore in this one.

A Wake in Providence - "Mournful Benediction (feat. Ben Duerr)" from I Write To You, My Darling Decay (2024)

5/5. This one keeps up the perfect balance this band has between melody and heaviness. Drum blasts, symphonic keys, and a guest vocal appearance by Shadow of Intent's Ben Duerr make the song guaranteed to be an eternal epic deathcore hit.

Make Them Suffer - "Weeping Wastelands" from Neverbloom (2012)

4.5/5. This one was re-recorded from their brutal demo EP Lord of Woe, and is the band's longest song at nearly 7 minutes. It's not as special as those other two epics in its original album (the title track and "Maelstrom"), but it's still listenable by any means.

Shadow of Intent - "Malediction" from Melancholy (2019)

5/5. The playlist doesn't end there though, making way for this monumental gem, one of the best I've heard from this band and genre. I really am torn between whether this is the perfect ending for its original album or that long instrumental epic before it.

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any metalcore fan and anyone who isn't into metalcore but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!

Nice choice, Andi. I hadn't heard of this project before, but a single playthrough while I was out this morning found me enjoying it very much. Hopefully I will be able to spend a bit more time with it during the month and work up a review.

Here's my review summary:

After the overly hardcore punk-ish Halo in a Haystack, the second Converge album Petitioning the Empty Sky marks a great contributor to the birth of the metalcore we know, love, and hate. Who knows what metalcore would've been like if Converge didn't step out of their hardcore comfort zone? I'm glad they did! This album has been praised and put in top-10 hardcore/metalcore album lists, along with other later Converge albums. Petitioning the Empty Sky has caused a new flow in the history of hardcore and heavy metal. If anyone who can't stand metalcore hears this and screams, "What is THIS!?!", the correct answer would be "A revolutionary piece of heavy history!" Converge wasn't the only band with the idea of inventing metalcore. There seems to be a school of bands experimenting with mixing metal with hardcore, but I'm sure the top student of that metal-hardcore experimentation class is, you guessed it, Converge! And it looks like a couple other bands in 1996/1997 (Cave In and The Dillinger Escape Plan) were already following Converge's steps with their own demos/EPs, though they couldn't go the same height as Petitioning the Empty Sky...except maybe Dillinger's Calculating Infinity. Anyway, unlike Halo in a Haystack and the earlier Converge demo EPs that lean more towards traditional hardcore, their second album unleashed the rhythm vs. melody instrumentation and dissonant vocals of metalcore. It is a raw dynamic brute force to dig out of the underground and change two genres' destinies! I can go on about the first track "The Saddest Day" alone and how it perfectly exemplifies the sound of the band and the genre at the time, but it's best left in the full review. Cacophonic guitars drift through with the throbbing rhythm of drums and bass (NOT the genre, the instruments) with a caustic vocal force as vocalist Jacob Bannon screams his lungs out. The album was re-released two years later with live tracks that are great but not as much as the studio part of the album. While I'm sure there are more experimental metalcore albums out there by bands like Cave In, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and even Converge themselves in their ambient-ish masterpiece Jane Doe, Petitioning the Empty Sky is revolutionary in the hardcore and metal fields, ranging from violent chaos to tranquil melody. Generally, it's a #1 metalcore kick-starter pack!

4.5/5

Recommended tracks: "The Saddest Day", "Dead", "Farewell Note to the City", "Color Me Blood Red"

For fans of: early Cave In, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Shai Hulud

Vocalist David Holch also has a creditable crack at reproducing Burton C. Bell's growling bark as the main vocal, but where he comes unstuck is with the complementary clean vocals which, in all honesty, sound terrible, as if he can't carry a tune at all. They are so bad that I can't believe no one advised the band to re-record them or get a guest in to help out.

The Tyrannical Resurrection EP recorded two years later has half the amount of songs in the debut re-recorded, but as much as I enjoy The Assembly of Tyrants, I agree that the band should re-record the album entirely (except for the "Clash" remix) with their later vocalist Mel Rose singing the cleans. That can be like a special 20th anniversary thing later this year, which I guess depends on if they get at least a smidge more success out of their new album Bellum Interruptum to be released two months from now.

Fantastic choice, Daniel! The power metal-ish melodeath of Skyfire is a grand treat for any fan of Children of Bodom, Norther, and early Eternal Tears of Sorrow.

Great choice, Kosie! That's one of my personal highlights of that Corrections House album with its dark heavy sound and lyrics of poetic rage.

Killswitch Engage is another great melodic metalcore band for me, so somewhere around the melodic metalcore section (tracks 1-5) would be good.

You're doing it right, Zach. I love that In This Moment song, another great track to please the alt-metal crowd.

Nice choice with that Taramis track, Daniel. Cool 80s progressive power metal right there!

This nomination has been passed uncontested.

https://metal.academy/hall/568

I decided to pass "Aquarela" uncontested.

https://metal.academy/hall/567

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Dawn of Ashes - "Thirteen Chants to Lilith" from The Crypt Infection II (Non Serviam) (2019)

4.5/5. I was hoping for some chanting vocals eerily saying "Lilith", but there isn't any. Still an excellent dark intro for this playlist!

Celldweller - "Unshakeable" from Wish Upon a Blackstar (2012)

5/5. Klayton can blend so many genres that he has practically invented his own! Electro-industrial rock/metal is blended greatly with the drum and bass of Pendulum and the dubstep of Skrillex, all that should be worth it for anyone wanting to explore this tempting mix. Both the vocals and instrumentation are phenomenal. And there's absolutely no AI required to make such a layered track (of course, this was 10 years before the AI boom). Lots of wild electronics here!

Fear Factory - "Zero Signal" from Demanufacture (1995)

4.5/5. This one is amazing with futuristic atmosphere before ending peacefully with a piano outro.

Meathook Seed - "Day of Conceiving" from Embedded (1993)

4/5. This one viciously punches through in sludgy grind.

Davey Suicide, Telle Smith - "Medicate Me" from Rock Ain't Dead (2020)

4.5/5. Industrial/alternative metal ain't dead by a long shot with this killer tune! There are some vibes from Starset and The Word Alive, the latter band's vocalist Telle Smith guest appearing in this track.

HEALTH, Filter - "FREE TO DIE" from RAT WARS ULTRA EDITION (2024)

4/5. Health has collaborated with Nine Inch Nails, Lamb of God, Godflesh, etc. Now it's Filter's turn. Quite enjoyable!

Lord of the Lost, Feuerschwanz - "Lords of Fyre" from Lords of Fyre (2024)

3.5/5. Wow, 3rd collaboration track in a row! This one has good medieval industrial/rock metal, but it sounds a little cheesy, and bringing in Feuerschwanz is unnecessary.

Red Harvest - "Dead Cities" from A Greater Darkness (2007)

4/5. Some more of this dark greatness to please my ears!

Psyclon Nine - "Anaesthetic (For the Pathetic)" from Crwn Thy Frnicatr (2006)

4.5/5. Another one of the best Psyclon Nine tracks for me, with more of their electro-industrial metal sound and dark lyrics.

Device - "Out of Line (feat. Serj Tankian & Terry "Geezer Butler)" from Device (2013)

4.5/5. This one stands out well as another one of Black Sabbath's members, Geezer Butler performs his audible bass, while David Draiman and System of a Down's Serj Tankian both sing their perfect lyrical views of the world.

Northlane - "Freefall" from Alien (2019)

5/5. This highlight has a brief slow introduction, then it explodes into a faster drive. The heavier side with screamed vocals and djenty riffing definitely makes this song another favorite of mine.

Eisbrecher - "Everything is Wunderbar" from Everything is Wunderbar (2024)

4.5/5. Eisbrecher is back with an amazing new single, from the cold northern lands of Germany.

Megaherz - "Engelsgesicht" from In Teufels Namen (2023)

4/5. Quite addictive to sing along to, at least for people who can understand German better than I can.

Knorkator - "Eigentum" from Das nächste Album aller Zeiten (2007)

3.5/5. I guess I can grin at the comedic lyrics, but it is a little too much, not to mention the song a bit soft and poppy.

Combichrist - "Heads Off" from CMBCRST (2024)

3/5. Heavier but disappointing, even when adding some decent black metal-ish riffing.

Static-X - "From Heaven" from Project: Regeneration Vol. 2 (2024)

3.5/5. Perhaps the last song with the late Wayne Static's vocals. May he rest in industrial/alt-metal heaven. It's actually a cover of "The Disease" by Echo and the Bunnymen, but either way, it reminds us not to end up like him. I'm sure he would be proud of how the band is doing with Edsel Dope as Xer0. A good beautiful signoff. RIP Wayne....

Blacklodge - "All Seeing Eye" from Machination (2012)

4/5. Quite killer, yet the lyrics are hard to get a grip on.

Shining - "Off the Hook" from One One One (2013)

4.5/5. The Norwegian band Shining's jazzy experimental industrial metal sound rules!

Strapping Young Lad - "Consequence" from SYL (2003)

5/5. This highlight pounds through with evil riffing and searing drumming.

Brujeria – "Molestando Ninos Muertos" from Matando gueros (1993)

4.5/5. An interesting track submission from Daniel. The lyrics are so bizarre and disturbing, as if the title isn't enough of a tip-off. And the song is from a deathgrind album notorious for its cover art showing a photo of an actual decapitated head. It's as dark and obscene as Cannibal Corpse and the movie The Exorcist. Yet it's so intriguing! This might've been helped out by the switch into Godflesh-style industrial metal this track has. It has amazing industrial rhythm. Still this is as edgy as edgy can go.

Ministry - "No W Redux" from Houses of the Mole (2004)

4/5. This version of "No W" does not have the "O Fortuna" samples in the intro and outro, excluded due to copyright issues. Such a shame because the original has greater impact for this blazing thrashy industrial metal track.

Pitchshifter - "Underachiever" from Infotainment? (1996)

4/5. Pitchshifter seems to take some Ministry aspects such as political lyrics and audio samples, though Pitchshifter's brand of industrial metal is more, well, industrial.

OOMPH! - "Bastard" from Unrein (1998)

4.5/5. Perhaps one of the best OOMPH! songs for me, hailing a true NDH classic. If humanity doesn't f***ing learn their lesson, let's hope we all will still have a glimmer of existence acknowledged from afar.

Sybreed - "Twelve Megatons Gravity" from Antares (2007)

5/5. A prime example of aggressive deathly electro-industrial metal. It is one of the most rage-filled songs I've heard in the genre that barely any other bands can reach.

Turmion Katilot - "Schlachter" from Reset (2024)

5/5. Following this is a wonderful remix of the debut's "Teurastaja", featuring Chris Harms of Lord of the Lost. I might just love it more than the original!

Neo Inferno 262 - "Pleonectic" from Pleonectic (2023)

4.5/5. I'm not usually a fan of long ambient industrial interludes, but this one actually sounds nice, a good leadup into the final two tracks...

Mechina - "The Assembly of Tyrants" from The Assembly of Tyrants (2005)

5/5. The main part of Mechina's debut album ends with its 8-minute title epic. It's a true masterpiece highlight that greatly foreshadows what's to come later for this band.

Neurotech - "Ultra Us" from Infra Versus Ultra (2014)

5/5. The melancholic closing track of Infra Versus Ultra has the perfect music and lyrics to end this cyber metal adventure and this playlist.

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any industrial metal fan and anyone who isn't into industrial metal but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks Daniel for accepting this and your help with your submission, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Hollow Front - "Afflicted" from Loose Threads (2020)

4/5. Let me start by saying how overlooked some bands can be, including Hollow Front. There's great intensity from both the clean and unclean vocals.

The Browning - "MISERY.exe" from OMNI (2024)

4.5/5. H*ll of a fun electronic metal/deathcore banger featuring the downtuned guitar talents of Nik Nocturnal.

Shadow of Intent - "Flying the Black Flag" from Flying the Black Flag (2024)

5/5. Apparently, fellow deathcore band Disembodied Tyrant co-wrote this f***ing bada** song.

Carnifex - "Dragged into the Grave" from Die Without Hope (2014) 

5/5. Another awesome deathcore track! "Remember when I said I wanna watch myself choke."

Aviana - "Ominous" from Polarize (2017)

4.5/5. The vocals here are so beastly, reminding me of Invent Animate.

Alleviate - "DMNS" from DMNS (2024)

4.5/5. The metalcore journey continues with this amazing rifftastic banger.

Haste the Day - "For a Lifetime" from When Everything Falls (2005)

5/5. "We will forever stay united, we won't back down, and we will not stop fighting!" This is one of my favorite Haste the Day songs. I like when they sound like Parkway Drive with higher screamo vocals.

Thrown - "Dislike" from EXCESSIVE GUILT (2024)

4.5/5. Nothing to dislike about this brutal banger!

Malevolence - "Eternal Torment" from Reign of Suffering (2013)

4/5. My dad's been making me to do the dishes lately. Metalcore hard-hitters like this should help motivate me. The blend of Hatebreed's hardcore and Lamb of God's deathly groove sounds so kick-A, maybe even the melody of August Burns Red and Bleed from Within. And there are two more albums from this band besides Reign of Suffering.

Signs of the Swarm - "Bleak Cycle" from Senseless Order (2016)

4.5/5. Amazing song, but it's a bit problematic with the guest vocals by Chris Gonzalez, whichever band he's from.

Oceano - "Plague Campaign" from Depths (2009)

5/5. This awesome deathcore banger is so beautiful and brutal. The final third of this track should definitely work as a boss battle theme, alongside some f***ing sick lyrics, "Mankind's demise is reoccurring". Lots of ultra-heavy destruction!

Elwood Stray - "Reset" from Burn the Bridge (2017)

4.5/5. I love this one, despite a bit of strain in trying to sound like the late Chester Bennington, RIP.

Kingdom of Giants - "Hope" from Every Wave of Sound (2013)

4.5/5. Same with this one, but this time adding in spoken samples.

Black Veil Brides - "Knives and Pens" from Re-Stitch These Wounds (2020)

5/5. Just like the original, the re-recording has similar riffing to that Avenged Sevenfold song "Unholy Confessions", and that actually beats that one! This is what got me interested in this band, despite dumping those metalcore roots in subsequent albums. SO AWESOME!!!

Enter Shikari - "Sorry, You're Not a Winner" from Take to the Skies (2007)

5/5. Myspace trance-metalcore can be a winner with this beautiful banger. Enter Shikari have really kickstarted the electronicore scene in the UK, the way Attack Attack! kickstarted it in the US.

Dal Av, Jackson Rose - "Insanely Illegal Cage Fight" from Insanely Illegal Cage Fight (2023)

4.5/5. If Dal Av and Jackson Rose team up to make their own full album, it would be quite brutal.

All That Remains - "Forever Cold" from Forever Cold (2024)

5/5. I absolutely look forward to the new All That Remains album Antifragile, and this is the song that has gotten me the most pumped up. Jason Richardson has done well in maintaining the legacy of the late Oli Herbert, RIP.

Trivium - "Forsake Not the Dream" from In Waves (2011)

4.5/5. This one once again unleashes the heavy drums and powerful guitars. It's a little inconsistent and repetitive, but still a better song nonetheless.

Vicious Rain, Half Me - "Hysteria" from There is Beauty in Letting Go (2024)

4/5. Anyone who enjoys Vicious Rain and Half Me will get a sweet kick out of this one.

Vianova - "Wheel of Fortune" from Wheel of Fortune (2024)

4.5/5. First time hearing this band, and this song is so wild and weird, leveling up the progressive metalcore of Protest the Hero and Sikth.

Imminence - "Lighthouse" from Turn the Light On (2019)

5/5. This one is the heaviest track on its original album. It makes all the soft tracks in that album cower in fear. Holy sh*t, the chorus is so massive! Pretty much everything is so great, with my favorite part being when the violin leads into a huge orchestrated section. That's the epitome of epic ambient metalcore!

Shadows Fall - "In the Grey" from In the Grey (2024)

5/5. Shadows Fall is back with a vengeance! And now we need to God Forbid to return for real.

Ankor - "Shoganai" from Shoganai (2024)

4.5/5. Ankor can make an epic talented mini-journey within a song. Just from the one-minute mark, it's insane! I also like the brief throwback to "Oblivion" in over the 3-minute point. Then less than a minute later, bassist Julio Lopez sings part of the chorus, right before it starts hitting the climax. I almost cried in joy.

Architects - "Whiplash" from Whiplash (2024)

5/5. This ground-breaking banger had made sure the band isn't dead. F*** yeah!

Earth Crisis – "Eden's Demise" from Firestorm E.P. (1993)

4.5/5. This one tries to teach us that veganism might be the way to save the environment. Is that Straight Edge or what!?

Void of Vision - "As Above So Below" from Children of Chrome (2016)

4/5. Light up the f***ing heavy fire, all the way up to the outro! Too bad this band will soon disappear from activity.

Converge - "Locust Reign" from The Poacher Diaries (1999)

4/5. Sweet screaming power! Plus an audio sample from Sixteen Candles at the end.

Psyopus - "Medusa" from Odd Senses (2009)

4.5/5. F***ing insane intro! Odd Senses is another killer mathcore album.

Ion Dissonance - "Play Dead... And I'll Play Along" from Solace (2005)

5/5. Another awesome band that I wish I could've found earlier. Wild mathcore with bits of tech-death!

Car Bomb - "Spirit of Poison" from 'w^w^^w^w' (2012)

4.5/5. This one also briefly used clean vocals without reducing the usual monstrosity.

Underoath - "To Whom It May Concern" from Define the Great Line (2006)

4.5/5. This 7-minute epic is where atmosphere twists from heavy to smooth for an emotional atmosphere to enjoy, summing up the lyrical themes greatly for a new hope.

Make Them Suffer - "Small Town Syndrome" from Make Them Suffer (2024)

5/5. Finally, we end the playlist and the song's original album with the best Make Them Suffer has to offer. Not just from the two vocalists, but also the impressive instrumentalists that help run the machine.

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any metalcore fan and anyone who isn't into metalcore but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks Daniel for accepting this and your help with your submission, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!

Thanks, Daniel. Glad you agree.